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  • Monsanto Company has announced that six new recipients will be awarded research grants as part of the Corn Rootworm Knowledge Research Program.
  • CAST Annual Report 2013 is now available to view.
  • DuPont Chair and Chief Executive Officer Ellen Kullman unveiled a newly expanded research facility at Delmas, South Africa, that will serve as the core of the DuPont Africa regional technology center.
  • Brookside Agra announced the hiring of Bill Bayless of Sparta, IL as its new Vice-President of Business Development.
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Norman Borlaug Statue Installed Today

Leah Guffey

Norman Borlaug StatueDr. Norman E. Borlaug’s statue was installed today at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on what would have been the great agricultural scientist’s 100th birthday. The leadership of the United States Congress, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Governor Terry E. Branstad of Borlaug’s home state of Iowa, and Amb. Kenneth M. Quinn, who chaired the Borlaug Statue Committee, were all part of the ceremony.

Borlaug dedicated his life to breeding better varieties of wheat, and worked with farmers, scientists, politicians and others to improve agricultural methods and policies to alleviate hunger and malnutrition worldwide. His achievements earned him recognition as “Father of the Green Revolution” and the distinction of being the only American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and the National Medal of Science.

The Borlaug statue was created by Benjamin Victor.

Chuck was there and will have lots of photos from today’s event which he’ll upload as soon as he can and add the link here.

Post Update: You can find all of Chuck’s photos here: Borlaug Statue Unveiling Photo Album

Listen to the statue unveiling ceremony here:Unveiling Ceremony of Dr. Norman Borlaug Statue

Coverage of National Ag Day is sponsored by BCS Communications

Ag Day, Audio, Food, World Food Prize

Agri-Pulse Kicks Off National Agriculture Week

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Agriculture Day celebration in Washington DC has events spread across three days – and really it should be more because it is officially National Agriculture Week.

agri-pulse-2We started it all off with a bang, thanks to the Farm to Fork politics session sponsored by our friends with Agri-Pulse, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary of business this year – just like us! Sara Wyant and Allen Johnson are pictured here with Senator Debbie Stebenow (D-MI), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, who stopped by to say a few words to everyone and congratulate Agri-Pulse for a decade of service to the industry.

“It’s great to see all of you and not be asked for an update on the progress of the farm bill,” the smiling senator joked to the crowd of nearly 400 gathered in the Hart Senate Office Building overlooking the capitol city. “I’m just glad to be part of the team as we take the next steps of bringing the farm bill to fruition with all of the steps toward implementation.” Ag Day Comments by Sen. Debbie Stabenow

ag-day-14-sara-harden1Those steps toward implementation were the main topic of discussion as USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Krysta Harden sat down with Sara for the main event. “Congress did give us a long time to plan, I’ll have to say that,” said Harden, who said the process really started when she took over the office last August, and continued as they waited and waited for Congress to finally get the bill passed.

Harden says USDA is focused on getting the livestock disaster piece implemented first. “We will be ready by April 15th,” she promised. “We will make sure that we provide this benefit to these livestock producers who definitely are in need.” Deputy Agriculture Secretary Krysta Harden and Sara Wyant of Agri-Pulse
Agri-Pulse Ag Day Photo Album

More National Agriculture Day/Week coverage to come.

Coverage of National Ag Day is sponsored by BCS Communications

Ag Day, Agri-Pulse, Agribusiness, Audio, USDA

The Continuing Saga of Pancake Ray

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 433If you’ve stayed up very late on Thursday night at the Agri-Marketing Conference the last couple of years then you know of Pancake Ray. He’s the chef of the Rhea & Kaiser After the After Party.

Pancake RayWell, the saga of the man known as Pancake Ray continues this year. If you’re attending the conference in Jacksonville, FL and need a middle of the night meal then you’ll need to stop by Pancake Ray’s Food Truck. Yep, Ray lost his diner but he’s got a food truck and he’s actually making his way south as we speak.

Ray is traveling from Dibble Oklahoma to Jacksonville Florida to feed the people of NAMA for the 3rd year straight. This year, he’s making the voyage in his food truck. Since it only goes 25 MPH due to carbonator issues it’s taking him a little longer than expected. On the way, he’s been making pit stops to learn the culinary secrets of the gulf coast. He’ll be making facebook posts from the road, taking pictures of his findings.

Pancake RayHere’s an image of Ray from his first After the After Party, serving some of the hungry.

This year the After the After Party, thrown by Rhea & Kaiser is on April 10th – Thursday night at Midnight. Right in front of the hotel. You should be able to smell the burritos. Look for his food truck. Look for him. Look for food.

Here’s the menu:

1. Breakfast Burritos – including eggs, meat, and other things.
2. Chicken & Waffles on a Stick (don’t eat the stick).
3. MOST IMPORTANTLY – Ray’s secret masterpiece that he will unveil at NAMA.
What is it? Find out at NAMA.
Is it food? Kind of.
Is it safe? Probably.
Why is it a secret? It’s not done yet.
Will it taste good? Bet your ass.

Pancake RayI mentioned earlier that Ray lost his diner. He also lost his girlfriend, Julie. So he’s got a lonely food truck and he’s looking for a little romance in the Sunshine State.

I only put that in here so you keep a wary eye on Rat and his Food Truck. He’s taking his deliciousness to the road – but only for NAMA. Everyone else isn’t worthy. Also, mobile food trucks are the new thing right now – alongside the finest chefs in the business – Wolfgagng Puck, Wanda Sykes – they’ve all got food trucks so why can’t Ray?

I’ll have a part two of this story for you next week. But for now you can listen to what’s going on with Ray in this week’s program.

You can listen to this week’s program here. Continuing Saga of Pancake Ray

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

Agencies, Audio, ZimmCast

2014 BIVI PRRS Research Awards Announced

Joanna Schroeder

In conjunction with the recent Swine Health Seminar in Dallas, Texas, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) announced the winners of its Advancement in PRRS Research Awards during the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Conference. The awards are designed to encourage ongoing discoveries in practical approaches to disease management.

boehringer-ingelheim-logo“The recent emergence of PED virus reminds us of the importance of ongoing research in helping the swine industry deal with the constant threat of disease,” said incoming AASV President Michelle Sprague, DVM, with Audubon Manning Veterinary Clinic (AMVC) in Audubon, Iowa. “Longstanding research programs like the BIVI PRRS research awards do provide the practical, effective results that veterinarians can utilize to better diagnose, prevent and control PRRS. As a swine veterinarian, I see firsthand on swine farms the benefits these research programs provide.”

BIVI awarded $75,000 to support three separate studies by independent swine disease researchers and practitioners in their investigations of novel ways to diagnose, control and eliminate PRRS. The selected PRRS studies focus on three important areas of disease research:

  • The effect of maternal PRRS immunity in pigs vaccinated with PRRS MLV vaccine and subsequently challenged with a heterologous PRRSV.  Winner: Brad Leuwerke, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minnesota for his research on the Effect of maternal PRRS immunity on the response of pigs to vaccination with a homologous modified-live vaccine and subsequent response to heterologous PRRS virus challenge.
  • Helping veterinarians and producers differentiate new PRRS virus incursions from resident strains. Winner: Andres Perez, DVM, PhD, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota for his research on the Differentiating new PRRS virus incursions from resident virus strains.
  • Improving oral fluid diagnostics. Winner: Jeff Zimmerman, DVM, PhD, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa for his research on Cleaning up oral fluid samples for improved diagnostics.

Sprague noted, “It is through this initiative that we have discovered many management practices that can give producers practical applications to implement to not only impact their own operations but also those of their neighbors.”

BIVI says their sponsored research awards have been critical in the development of less costly, more reliable diagnostic testing and sampling processes, as well as identifying more effective biosecurity, risk assessment and vaccination strategies. All total, the company has contributed $912,500 through the PRRS research awards to fund 37 separate research projects.

Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

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  • AdFarm recently expanded leadership in the company’s Calgary and Sacramento offices with the hiring of Larry Hertz and Jake Mortensen.
  • Swanson Russell announces the additions of Patty Lavelle, Liz Sexton, and Jennifer Smith to its Lincoln office.
  • SFP recently promoted Stephanie Russell to director of public relations.
  • Demeter is now a full-service agency, including market research, branding, traditional and emerging media, media and communications training, reputation management, public relations, advertising and promotions.
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Extra Benefits of Sow + Piglet PCV2 Vaccinations

Joanna Schroeder

Porcine Circovirus (PCV2) began to present considerable issues in the sow herds in the United States in 2005 and 2006 and the disease has been in the forefront of research for the last several years. Dr. Robert Desrosiers, professional service veterinarian, BI, Ltd, Canada, has BIVI Dr Robert Desrosiersbeen reviewing the research to determine if there is a benefit to vaccinating sows for PCV2. The results of this research was the focal point of a recent presentation he gave to hundreds of veterinarians around the world during Boehringer Ingelheim’s Swine Health Seminar.

He noted that right now the industry agrees that just vaccinating sows for PCV2ab does not work. He explained that the industry knows it needs to vaccinate the pigs, but what he wanted to determine is if there are extra benefits of vaccinating both the pigs and the sows.

More specifically he looked to the research to see if vaccinating sows would improve the reproductive performance of the sows and whether or not the vaccination of sows and pigs could have either a negative or positive impact on pig performance.

Dr. Derosiers found four side by side studies that looked at CircoFLEX and the reproductive performance of sows. Two of the studies did not see a positive impact – in other words it did not improve reproductive performance- but he noted that the reproductive performance of these two herds was already really high. The other two studies, he found, demonstrated an improvement in reproductive performance.

Dr. Derosiers concluded that there are situations where sow vaccination will improve reproductive performance. He also noted that overall, the research is in favor of sow and pig vaccination.

Learn more about the benefits of vaccinating both sows and pigs by listening to my interview with Dr. Robert Desrosiers. Research Shows Extra Benefits of Sow + Piglet PCV2 Vaccinations

Check out the BIVI guest adventures in the BIVI Big D Swine Health Seminar photo album.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Gators Luv Pork!

Cindy Zimmerman

This is breaking news!

The Pork Checkoff has just released
the results of a nationwide competition to discover which state has the most #PorkLUV – and Florida wins!

After sharing more than 2,400 declarations, 30,000 fresh pork meals will be donated and divided among food banks within the state. North Carolina and New York were close behind, and with more than 17,400 total shares from coast to coast, it’s obvious that America’s passion for pork is hot.

Where did your state rank?

pork-luv

Ag Groups, Food, Pork

Alltech Asks “What If”

Jamie Johansen

What If AlltechKnowledge and planning provide a sense of relief, particularly in business. Business and Technology, one of the six major sessions during “What If,” the 30th Annual Alltech International Symposium will help attendees stay worry-free by asking, “What if there are faster ways to predict the future?” The session will offer businesses strategies to maximize efficiency by embracing technological innovations and marketplace opportunities. It will take place in downtown Lexington, Ky., USA from May 18-21.

Evoking curiosity with its theme, “What If,” the Symposium will focus on the areas of Crop Science, Life Sciences, Africa, Modern Farming, The Algae Opportunity, and Business and Technology – all primary topics of focus which will feature notable, expert speakers from around the world.

During the Business and Technology session, Dr. Damien McLoughlin, professor at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, will address the question of, “What happens next?” and share his knowledge on strategic succession planning to ensure the life of a business.

“The greatest investment in business is always in management,” McLoughlin said. “The opportunities in global agribusiness are so great today, that no firm, family-owned or otherwise can ignore the challenge of finding, developing and empowering the next generation of managers and leaders. At the Alltech International Symposium, we will discuss this issue and identify practical points that you can use to improve your business.”

Dr. Aoife Lyons, licensed clinical psychologist and director of Alltech’s Career Development Program, will also speak, explaining the benefits of psychometric testing in hiring excellent talent, debunking fears and myths about psychometric testing, and outlining the economic benefit to companies. Eighty-five percent of companies in the Forbes 500 use psychometric testing as part of the hiring process. Making sure people have the right skills but equally, matching a potential employee’s personality with the corporate culture of their team is imperative.

The Business and Technology session will address other questions as well, including:
– What if there were simpler, alternative ways to achieve the same objectives in business?
– What if micro-loans were available for new businesses?
– Where do you look for funds?
– What if it is not about big data, but about the right data?
– What if your business is not completely connected?

Registration for Alltech’s 30th Annual International Symposium is open now and available for an early discount price of $599 until April 10. Standard registration after April 10 will be $850. Two paid registrations from a single company or organization will receive a third registration free of charge. Delegates who are members of ARPAS and AAVSB can also earn CEUs.

Agribusiness, Alltech, Crop Science, Events, Technology

Celebrate National Ag Day

Chuck Zimmerman

AgDay Logo365 sunrises and 7 billion mouths to feed!

National Ag Day Activities are just around the corner starting next Monday in Washington, DC. Cindy and I will be in town for them. Actually, I’ll be covering Ag Day activities while she’s covering the American Coalition for Ethanol’s annual DC Fly-in. I’ll be starting out on Monday with Agri-Pulse and their Farm-to-Fork Politics session and reception. Then it’s a full day on Tuesday. You can find some good stories on the Ag Day Blog btw.

So how are you planning to celebrate the day? Take our latest ZimmPoll to let us know.

The Ag Council of America has some digital resources you can use to help promote Ag Day in their media kit. Here are a couple of examples.

You can listen to one of the radio spots here: AgDay Radio Spot

Ag Day, Ag Groups